High-performance liquid chromatographic separation of iron(III) chlorophyllin

The components of iron(III) chlorophyllin were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography on a reversed-phase Inertsil ODS column. Good retention was achieved with acetonitrile-phosphate buffer (pH 2) (60:40, v/v) containing 0.01 M tetramethylammonium chloride (TMACl) in studies of the chromatographic behaviour with various elution solvents and their mixtures. Three kinds of iron(III) chlorophyll derivatives, i.e., iron(III) pheophorbide a (Fe-Phed a), iron(III) chlorin e₆ (Fe-Chl e₆) and iron(III) chlorin e₄ (Fe-Chl e₄), were detected as major components. Standard materials for qualitative and quantitative analysis were derived from chlorophyll a which was extracted from spinach. The required compounds were prepared under strict conditions by the insert reaction of iron(II) chloride with pheophytins to avoid molecular degradation by light or molecular oxygen.